Somewhat surprisingly, the Commission changed its mind very quickly and recommended Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to enter the newly drafted ENP in June 2004. More to that point, in September 2004, the President (by that time) of the European Commission Romano Prodi paid a ground-breaking visit to the South Caucasus.

It was not until after the European Security Strategy had been adopted in December 200311 that the Commission changed its mind and recommended that Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia take part.12 They were offered inclusion in the ENP in June 2004, and in September 2004 the then-President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, paid a ground-breaking visit.

Pamela Jawad declares: “As far as individual Member States are concerned, all in all, the South Caucasus countries have lacked a lobbyist among them (…) in order to catalyze a greater interest from Brussels.”107

Different member states have different priorities. They do not have a coherent position regarding the South Caucasus. In the beginning, France and the UK have taken a critical position towards an enhanced role of the EU in the region. It was rather because of the fact that they, both, have taken an active role in their national policies. However, the UK lobbied for Georgia to be included in the ENP and even keenly advocated its EU accession after the Rose Revolution. This changing position of the UK has certainly much to do with the fact that British Petroleum (BP) had a leading position in the construction of the BTC and the BTE pipelines.108

Some Member States have called for a stronger role of the EU in the South Caucasus. Among them are Germany and several Nordic states. [...] It has launched a “Caucasus Initiative” in its development cooperation in April 2001, aimed at a better understanding between the three countries by promoting measures with a cross-border impact in five sectors: reforming the judiciary and developing civil society (municipal democracy), facilitating access to credit in the private sector, securing supplies in the energy sector, combating tuberculosis in the health sector, and preserving biodiversity.

As far as individual Member States are concerned, all in all, the South Caucasus countries have lacked a lobbyist among them during the 1990s in order to catalyze a greater interest from Brussels, other than e.g. the Baltic States in the shape of the Scandinavian countries, or Spain and Italy in favor of the Mediterranean states.66

[...] Particularly France and the UK have taken a critical position towards an enhanced role of the EU in the region, despite or rather because of the fact that they both have taken an active role in their national policies. Notwithstanding, the UK lobbied for Georgia to be included in the ENP and even keenly advocated EU accession after the ‘Rose Revolution’.67 Taking obvious interest in a leading position concerning energy development in the shape of the construction of the BTC and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) pipelines, especially with the British Petroleum (BP) company, she has appointed her former ambassador in Moscow, Brian Fall, as UK Special Representative for Georgia in October 2002, later on for the whole South Caucasus region. [...]

Nevertheless, some Member States have called for a stronger role of the EU – especially Germany and several Nordic states. Germany, who will hold the Council Presidency in the first half of 200769, has launched a “Caucasus Initiative” in her development cooperation in April 2001, aimed at a better understanding between the three countries by promoting measures with a cross-border impact in five sectors: reforming the judiciary and developing civil society (municipal democracy), facilitating access to credit in the private sector, securing supplies in the energy sector, combating tuberculosis in the health sector, and preserving biodiversity.70

69 In this regard, an outlook on the actual working program emphasizes the relevance of energy policy for the shaping of foreign and security policy and the stabilization of the immediate geographical neighborhood as well as the promotion of freedom, democracy and free-market economies in other parts of the world; cf. Speech by State Secretary Silberberg “A Preview of Germany’s EU Presidency: The Status of the Federal Government’s Preparations” on 4 October 2006, in: www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Infoservice/Presse/ Reden/2006/061004-SilberbergEuropa.html (accessed in 10/2006).